A lawsuit has been filed against the Embarcadero waterfront restaurant, Waterbar, by one of its workers, on behalf of all other workers at the restaurant, claiming the restaurant is not fully complying with California's state wage law and other labor rules.
The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 1 in San Francisco County Superior Court by attorneys Poya Ghasri, Gary Brotman, and Owen Lin from Marquee Law Group, of Beverly Hills, on behalf of named plaintiff, Carlos Marquez.
The lawsuit specifically alleges that Waterbar has failed to pay earned wages on time, provide overtime compensation, meal periods, rest periods, and accurate wage statements in alleged violation of various sections of the California Labor Code.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include Land and Sea Restaurants LLC, which does business as Waterbar and Parke Ulrich, identified as the owner, executive chef, and manager of Waterbar, and other unnamed defendants.
The lawsuit was filed under California's controversial Private Attorney General Act, which empowers individual workers to stand in place of state labor officials in pressing lawsuits demanding businesses pay penalties for alleged violations of California labor laws. Critics have asserted the PAGA law has generated big attorney fees for the lawyers bringing the lawsuits, while generating comparatively few benefits for workers.